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Thursday, May 22, 2014

Christ made her heart His!

...the LORD is my portion ...He is good to those whose hope is in Him... Lamentations 3:24,
25

"Christ
Jesus had stolen the heart of Rita
–

He alone possessed it.He made her heart His heart;

and under the white veils of the Eucharist He was for her soul,

as He is for all loving hearts, heaven upon
earth.

How sweet is the moment

in
which poor humanity, wearied
and afflicted,

may
remain alone, with Jesus alone, in the Sacrament of
Love;

for
there the Lord, with His flaming heart open, calls
unto all,

'You that are burdened and heavy laden,

come unto Me and I will refresh you.'
"

Fr M.J. Corcoran, OSAOur Own St Rita: A Life of the Saint of the
Impossible

St Rita of Cascia

Italy ~ 1381-1457

Wife, Mother, Augustinian Nun

Stigmatist,Incorrupt

Patron of Impossible Cases*

*especially matrimonial
difficulties

FEAST DAY - May 22

The saint of Cascia belongs to the great
host of Christian women who "have had a significant impact on the life of the
Church as well as of society" (Apostolic Letter Mulieris dignitatem, n.
27). Rita well interpreted the "feminine genius" by living it intensely in both
physical and spiritual motherhood. " ~ Saint John Paul
II

From an early age Rita desired to become a nun, but her
parents thought it best for her to marry. She suffered through a difficult
marriage for 18 years, with an abusive, ill tempered husband. He converted
shortly before his political murder. Their twin sons wanted to avenge his
death. When St. Rita learned that her sons planned to avenge their father's
murder, she prayed to God to save them from committing such a grievous sin.
Almost immediately, both boys fell ill. She nursed them lovingly, and they both
died, reconciled with God.

Now a widow and childless, St. Rita applied for admission to
the Augustinian convent in Cascia, but was refused because its rule only
permitted virgins. After much prayer and entreaty, an exception was finally
granted to her and she was allowed to enterin
1413. The story is told that St. Rita was miraculously transported into the
monastery itself, despite its locked doors; when the nuns found her there in the
morning, they allowed her to stay, taking it as the will of God.

St
Rita had a deep
devotion to the passion of Christ and the Holy Eucharist.
She
spent many hours in Eucharistic Adoration daily. Confined to her bed the last
four years of her life, she consumed little more than the
Eucharist. Near the end of her life, she had a visitor from her
home town who asked if she'd like anything. Rita's only request was a rose from
her family's estate. The visitor went to the home, but it being January, knew
there was no hope of finding a flower; but there, sprouted on an
otherwise bare bush, was a single rose blossom.

St Rita was a stigmatist who suffered a wound of Christ on
her forehead. When St. Rita died her face became
beautifully radiant and her cell was aglow with heavenly light, while the great
bell of the monastery rang of itself. Her incorrupt body, which for
several centuries gave off a sweet fragrance, is preserved in a shrine in
Italy. It is said that at her
beatification, the body of the saint raised itself up and opened its eyes. St.
Rita is called "The Saint of the Impossible" and is particularly invoked in
cases of matrimonial difficulties.

St. Rita of Cascia was the first woman to be
canonized in the Great Jubilee at the beginning of the 20th century, on May 24,
1900.